Thursday, February 9, 2012

Crystalling

I am a terribly worrier. About everything, really, but things tend to intensify when it’s pet-related. It’s so bad that a good friend actually created a word to describe the condition.

To be honest, I think my vet might think I’m a hypochondriac-by-proxy. Not long ago, I took Maisy in for an appointment, convinced that she needed a dental. She didn’t; in fact, the vet was actually impressed with the condition of her mouth- and by how cooperative she was (good girl, Maisy!).

A few months ago, orange kitty was limping. I took him in, and the x-rays (of course I did x-rays) showed that he has some arthritis- shocking, I know, in an 11-year-old cat. I did the same thing with Maisy not long after- she’s had an intermittent limp for years. It goes away with chiropractic and massage, but I wanted x-rays to check things out. Thankfully, there was nothing.

I’ve spent money on urologists and ultrasounds. I’ve hired cardiologists to do echocardiograms. I know where the three closest animal emergency clinics are, and I’ve spent more money than I knew was possible on lab work.

Most of the time, I don’t feel bad about this. I love my pets, and I prefer to take care of issues when they’re still small. I was recently seriously embarrassed, though, when I scheduled a behavior consult for the cats. They were fighting all the time, and I felt bad that they were obviously so miserable. I took behavior logs and about a billion videos. And as it turns out… they were playing. I cannot even begin to describe how mortified I was. Here I was, making a complete fool out of myself to a woman I really admire. Thankfully, she was really nice about it, saying that she respected how much I care about my pets.

That story about the cats reminds me of the one Patricia McConnell told about the nice couple with an "aggressive" Golden retriever and how they called her in because the dog bared its teeth at everyone coming in the door. As it turned out, the dog was a smiler and so it was a happy grin instead. I'm sure the couple was embarrassed to have hired a behaviorist for that, but I bet they were relieved! I'm sure you were most relieved to find out your cats were playing. Better that than having to deal with behavior mods!

I can be really bad about Dahlia and her health too. I don't always take her to the vet, but I freak out over every tiny little thing. "She's limping!! OMG SHE MUST HAVE BONE CANCER OH NOES!!!" Ok so maybe it was just a burr that got stuck in her paw. I bring her in for every little bump (three bumps = three sebaceous cysts). When I found a growth in her mouth I was SURE it was mouth cancer and paid out the nose to have it removed and biopsied (nope...benign epulis).

I am a bit of a Crystal-er, myself. As you know, I just spent upwards of $1K on blood work, x-ray and ultrasounds on Simon, for an end result of GI distress caused by a reaction to the antibiotic he was on.

Sadly, we just found out some not-so-good results on the kitty we took in for an x-ray today. Looks like cancer :(

Have done the exact same thing this week - dog had a tummy bug and I was so worried I worked from home and booked an emergency appointment with the vet. By the time we got to the vet he was totally normal!

Having said that we have another dog who has a serious medical condition that was only diagnosed because I insisted on seeing a specialist ... so you win some, you lose some and I would rather be cautious.

Yes, Anonymous, that's generally my philosophy, too. If I'm not sure about something, I'd rather get it checked out and make sure everything's okay. I'm not sure if it's cheaper in the long run, exactly, but my peace of mind is better.

We won't talk about the night I spent panicking and vomiting because I was sure Steve was having seizures.

You know, instead of a sore throat, which is what he really had.

Sigh.

OVERREACTIVE OWNER IS OVERREACTIVE.

But then again, when I took Luce in (twice) because she Just Wasn't Right, we eventually found her heart problem. It was so subtle that her regular vet couldn't identify it on her EKG or ultrasound, but when we faxed the EKG to a cardiologist, he picked it up and said he should see her. A week on heart medication, and I had my dog back. So sometimes it's not that I'm crazy. Sometimes it's that there really is something wrong.

About Me

ARCH URO1 Maisy, CD-C, RL2, RL1X2, CGC

Maisy is an 8-year-old corgi-poodle mix, and my first dog. She is a reactive-dog-turned-normalish thanks to anti-anxiety meds and a hell of a lot of work. Maisy is my soulmate, and all the best things in my life have happened because of her.

Pyg

Pyg is a 1-year-old shih-tzu/something mix. He's sweet, cuddly, and fun. This dog makes me laugh and laugh, whether we're doing some training or just hanging out. As my first attempt at fostering, Pyg is proof that failure can be better than success.

Lola

One of my two "inherited" dogs, Lola is a 4-year-old basset hound who became mine when I fell in love with her (human) dad. As I've started to train Lola, I've come to love her simplicity and earnestness.

Napi

Napi was rescued by my fiance from abusive neighbors. Now a fear-reactive 2-year-old chihuahua (mix?), we're slowly working on overcoming his issues.